What's your personal curriculum?
Most Friday's for me currently...
Friday’s can be a mix of things. I typically wake early enough to get a short meditation in and have a quick little breakfast with my coffee that will fuel me to through teaching my 8am spin class. It is a bit of a drive, so I either listen to a podcast on the way or a book on audible. Once I finish spin, depending on the rest of my day I have enough time to get some strength training or yoga in before I sauna and shower.
Today I added in two stops on my way to work. I am currently writing some articles for the local Park Record. I needed to stop at a coffee shop and a bakery for research purposes, for real. How great is that? I can drink my dirty chai and eat my savory scone too!
Most Fridays I am at the gallery by 11am. The time of year will determine how busy or slow things will go for the day at the gallery. Some days it is entering new inventory on the computer and prepping for an upcoming show and some days the physicality of moving paintings, wrapping them in protective plastic or unboxing new arrivals are what occupies my time. Other days it is responding to online requests and logistics. Surprisingly the day can go by rather quickly.
If for some reason it is rather slow and I’m all caught up on everything, there is a sweet spot of time to get other things done at my desk. I can remember during the pandemic people saying they were bored, or random people making comments like, “Well if you’re ever bored, you could…”. I can honestly say, there has NEVER been a moment where I have been bored. That does not exist. It’s not because I’m endlessly scrolling either. I have a running list of things I could do if I have a spare moment. These aren’t things I HAVE to do, but things I want to do and am trying to fit them in when I can. Things like practicing Spanish and French, play the guitar, draw, journal, read more, etc. The list is slightly more specific but there is a list and it is what drives my day to day. My son in law recently called it his “personal curriculum” and I like it. It feels a little academic which I’m not allergic to. I enjoy a good syllabus, I use to teach at a University for nearly 10 years and creating curriculum has been in my wheelhouse for a very long time in other roles as well.
Usually, not always, people who say they don’t have time for this or that just aren’t prioritizing the thing they say they want to do. I know not everyone is a morning person, but for me after reading the 5am Club, by Robin Sharma, there was one particular takeaway. If I truly wanted to make meditation a practice consistent in my life I had to get it done first thing. Again, for me, waking up at 5am, really was no different than waking up at 6am. Having that extra hour made a huge difference. The other take away from that book was the 20/20/20 rule. Twenty minutes to meditate, Twenty minutes to get a sweat on, and twenty minutes to pursue something that will enhance your career aspirations or professional development. In other words, that last one could be reading an article, taking a quick class, listening to a TedTalk, etc. I augmented this slightly to fit my own needs. For instance I need more than 20 minutes of workout time to get my sweat on. So, I tweak it, I meditate and depending on how tired my sweet dog Savy is, she gets a walk in, and then I do my 20 min of career development or I flip flop that if she isn’t quite ready for her walk. I still get an hour workout in at some point in my day. Sooner than later is best and sometimes its teaching class, or guiding an adventure but an hour is non negotiable.
Once my day is done at the gallery, I pop in a take a peek at how my little garden plot is progressing on the way home. I like the variety throughout my day. From wellness, to fitness, to art and gardening, all of these things fill my soul on a daily basis. It’s not perfect and it has it’s flaws, but I can’t think of doing without any one of these things. I don’t subscribe to the idea that we are any ONE thing, at least you don’t have to be if you don’t want to, and if you do wonderful. You have found the way to live your life and I’m fairly certain we can all coexist without judgement regardless of what our personal curriculum may be.
So Hum,
T